Thursday, September 8, 2011

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That....

Well, I am just about a week out from finding out I had a heart condition. Still have to pause when I say that... or type it... or think it... I have been on the look out for the villain called "side effects" from the new medication I am on and am happy to say, not only my heart agrees with the help, but so does my entire body! No tantrums here-I have refrained from driving just to be safe, which was okay timing because my mama van needs some real mechanical love right now and is parked just as I am. I was analyzing moods-which never works out too well-but nothing seems out of the normal realm of ups and downs;) Even after a ho hum day yesterday, I was still able to begin school with my youngest two(and have fun), get a few new mittens done, and work up a new recipe in the kitchen. The little ones were home with me last evening and we had some fun playing learning games and basketball outside in the cool fall air that has swept it's way into town this week. The garden is still growing, although certain plants have quit yielding, others are just starting, fun to see the change. I am loving the cooler weather but a bit sad for the end of swimming, planting, and laid back school days of summer. We camped in the back yard over the Holiday weekend, had a glorious fire, took some great walks,played badminton as a family and took down an eyesore fence in our backyard. Here are some pics of the week.

Our first fire of the season...oh how wonderful it felt to be slightly chilled and warmed by a fire!

The little ones enjoying their work on the first day back to school!

Had some mittens designed and cut out ready to be sewn up. Yesterday when i was feeling rather uninspired and sluggish, it was good to have these ready to go at the sewing machine. Always good to prepare inspiration for the times I am uninspired!

Did some Bug hunting today with Joslyn-which is why we call her Josie Bug. This fellow was a fun one to chase-he has it all...jumping, flying, camo-pretty cool!

And we planted the sunflowers later this year so that we could have something blooming at summers end. They are soo tall this year! Matt and I were chatting this morning about how cool it is to watch the sunflowers turn their faces to the sun! They will always be such a charming flower to me. They just seem to ooze imagination, don't they. I hope someday to live next to a field of sunflowers-just one of those tiny dreams of simple pleasure.

And last, I am trying a new recipe-feels perfect for the cooler weather. It is a chicken tortilla soup. I cooked up the chicken last night in a cumin, chili powder, salt, and garlic powder mixture and stored it in the frig overnight-yummy! Noah and Joslyn hanging out with me while making the soup today. I am not our main cook normally, Matt usually does the cooking, but I am the "step-in-and-add-new-recipes-when-we-are-in-a-rut" kind of cook. So, it is just one of those times that we are needing some new flavor in our lives:) I will experiment with new recipes, and we will decide as a family what wins and it will then go in the "Matt's cookbook" for future mealtimes. Whenever this time comes along, I am finally ready to really enjoy the process. This time comes when I needed to slow down and not be multi-tasking. I would have to say that my energy level is still pretty low, but I do not expect that to change rapidly, it will probably gradually return to me. I have changed my sleeping habits quite a bit-and I am removing almost all caffeine from my day because stimulants aggrivate my heart, so it takes some adjusting in many ways. Anyways, making the soup today felt good-I always love when I get to use so many fresh foods-God's foods!!

And Joslyn decided that when cutting onions, it is best to wear goggles-WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!" Love kids minds!

I used a recipe from a fabulous blog-called the Pioneer Women if tortilla soup sounds good to you!

1 comment:

Hello lovelies. I am Mandy or Manda to my family and friends. I am married to my best friend, the mama of 6 miracles a home schooling mom, a youth pastor's wife, the owner of Whimsie Dots,. I create because I am created in His Image. I am getting to know Jesus a little everyday and am amazed by his grace and love for us. Stop in and chat, I would love to hear your thoughts.